Homeless Draw On Talent For Fund-raiser Note Cards

The better angels of our nature. Henry L. Simmons has no home, but he does have a gift. You see it displayed below in his striking portrait of a woman lost in reverie.

Simmons' painting is one of three works by homeless people that adorn a set of note cards being sold to raise money for the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida.

Just in time for the holiday season, the package of 15 cards and 17 envelopes sells for $10 - all proceeds going to the coalition. They're available at the coalition office at 639 W. Central Blvd. in Orlando, (407) 426-1250 Ext. 1254.

Simmons, a homeless man from Louisiana, contributed two designs: the portrait and a whimsical drawing of a leaping frog in a red jacket and black slippers. He created them in the LifeStrides Homeless Education Classroom, sponsored by the Orange County schools. Simmons is still in Orlando, studying graphic design.

But Sandra Warbritton doesn't live here anymore. She stayed only long enough to create a colorful ink-block rendering of the sun, the moon and flowers.

The two other designs in the package were created by local artist Susan Stanley and LifeStrides coordinator Peggy Wilster. But for me the centerpiece is Simmons' portrait of the woman with a beatific expression - his vision of an angel.

Yes, we have no bananas. I dropped by the new Mexican consulate on East Colonial Drive this week hoping to score some complimentary chips and salsa.

Not really - well, sort of. You never know. Hey, I was hungry.

But it turns out that the consulate, housed in a building trimmed in bright blue with the red, white and green Mexican flag outside, is all business. Not a chip to be found in the waiting room, just a variety of Spanish-language publications and posters.

I was greeted by Jorge Luna, who apologized needlessly for his English, which is better than my Spanish (nada). Luna said the consulate's main function is providing documents - visas and such - for Mexican citizens.

There are also pamphlets, in English, for those considering a trip to Mexico. Luna, a native of Mexico City, came to the United States eight years ago and until recently helped put out El Jale, an Apopka newspaper serving Mexican farmworkers.

Luna, 35, hosts The Consulate and You, noon to 1 p.m. Sunday on Spanish-language radio station 1440 AM (WPRD).

I know it's not his job, but I couldn't resist asking Luna to recommend a good Mexican restaurant. He didn't hesitate: Taquitos Jalisco in Winter Garden (which received a rave review from Sentinel restaurant critic Scott Joseph).

Before leaving, I asked Luna where he was eating lunch that day.

''I like the Vietnamese food around the corner,'' he said.

Nuts! I drove up to the new Seminole Towne Center mall in Sanford, but it didn't have what I wanted. So I kept going for about a mile to the Burk Farms produce stand on State Road 46, one of the few places I know to get boiled peanuts.

I fear for the Burk Farms stand, run by June Smith and her brother Lyle, who leases the corner lot. I see the new mall raising surrounding property values and the owner getting an offer he can't refuse from a Wendy's or a Mobil.

For now, though, Towne Center is a welcome neighbor. Business at the vegetable-and-peanut stand has picked up since the mall's grand opening last week.

''Usually in the summertime we close down for a couple of months,'' said June Smith. ''We didn't this year.''

The Burk Farms stand is safe for a while. Her brother recently signed a new one-year lease, Smith said.

Cows 'R' Us? The clash of urban and rural in Sanford is captured by the sight of cows grazing in a field at Rinehart Road and S.R. 46 - a stone's throw from the new mall. It's easy to imagine a wayward bovine wandering from the herd and ending up at the nearby Toys 'R' Us. These animals are not easily cowed.